Press Release

Financial Times has shortlisted Ellex for the "Most Innovative Law Firm in Europe" award. We are pleased to announce that our firm has been shortlisted in three categories regarding digital, diversity and health care projects.

The awards, established by the Financial Times, highlight law firms and in‐house teams which are digitally advanced and use innovative approaches to deliver exceptional value to business and society. The award ceremony will take place on 13 October 2022.

Financial times highlighted three exclusive Ellex projects in the Baltics:
• Digital Legal Services - 'Goolkit - digital toolkit for financial services organisations developed by industry experts.
• Practice of Law: Creating new standards - Representation in three milestone administrative litigations on the equality in treatment of disabled persons.
• Responsible business - 'VIVEO HEALTH, a globally trusted telemedicine platform.
This is not the first time Financial Times has nominated Ellex - the firm has been named among the 50 most innovative law firms in the world for several years in a row.

Rolandas Valiūnas, the managing partner at Ellex in Lithuania, comments that focusing on the future and preparing for it has allowed Ellex to always be one step ahead in the legal market for 30 years already. "We are pleased that Financial Times continuously highlights Ellex and nominates us alongside the most prominent law firms of the world. Being shortlisted in three categories this year confirms that we keep up with the trends, customer needs, and global values. At the same time, this year's nominations inevitably reflect topics that are important worldwide: digitization, health, and diversity. These topics are also our priorities, which we live by every day and speak loudly to others, promoting an even more remarkable breakthrough of such projects.

More about the shortlisted projects:

1. Goolkit:
Goolkit is an online digital product platform jointly created by market leaders in financial services & FinTech advisory services in the Baltics. Both teams (Ellex in Lithuania and Gooliver) have vast professional experience in financial services (banking), focusing on AML/CTF compliance, ICT and security compliance, and risk management.
Ellex has been offering Goolkit as a product to customers for two years already. In April 2022, the e-shop (www.goolkit.com) was officially launched. Now anyone can purchase a toolkit and manage risks in-house or, if necessary - consult with Ellex. Goolkit provides robust digital tools and templates based on industry best practices for (not only) financial institutions (specialised or universal banks, payment or electronic money institutions, crypto exchanges, asset management companies, insurance companies, etc.). Goolkit offers industry best practises in a universal spreadsheet that could be implemented in any technological solution.

2. Representation in three milestone administrative litigations in respect to the interpretation of the principle of equality in the treatment of disabled persons:
Ellex clients are several Latvian athletes with a disability - hearing impairment and their coaches that needed legal assistance to challenge in administrative court the systematically discriminatory decisions of the Government regarding the monetary awards granted for outstanding achievement in sports. Athletes were not granted at all or were granted significantly lower award amounts than athletes with and without disabilities in other sports events without any legal grounds that could justify the different approach.
All three cases are some of the first sports law cases reviewed by the Supreme Court and they have served as a reference point in anti-discrimination cases and public discussions in Latvia.

Viveo Health:
Ellex in Estonia, led by Managing Partner Ants Nõmper, helped the telemedicine platform Viveo Health launch a charity project where doctors, nurses and many other medical practitioners provide consultations to people in the war zone in Ukraine as humanitarian assistance via ViveoCares Foundation. All medical practitioners regardless of their location or nationality can help the people of Ukraine by providing video consultations.
Viveo Health is the first such cross-border telemedicine service known to be provided in the world. It was launched in 2021, after the COVID-19 crisis demonstrated that the healthcare provision system needs changes. Viveo Health provides a virtual doctor's office of essential systems ranging from a prescription centre to medical labs and a payment function.
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Ellex is a circle of three leading and highest-ranked law firms in the Baltics. An interconnected network of 200+ legal experts, who support continued success and drive new opportunities for clients' business. The Ellex team has diverse experience advising clients across various practice areas and helping them navigate even the most complex legal challenges.
Find out more: ellex.legal

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For more information please contact:
Jolanta Venskutė
Communication Project Manager Profile
D. +370 5 2681895 M. +370 618 61874
E. [email protected]
Jogailos st., 9, Vilnius, Lithuania